Refrigerating apparatus



Aug. 7, 1945. H. LUTES HAL 2,381,068

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed March 16, 1942 JONATHAN J. BUZZELL.

'fimscfia Lora-s- Patented Aug. 7, 1945 2,381,068 REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Herschel Lutes,

Detroit, and Jonathan J. Buzzell,

Alpena, Mich.

Application March 16, 1942, Serial No. 434,960 13 Claims. (Cl. 62--108.5)

The inven ion relates to refrigerating apparatus generally, and more particularly to an improvement in ice cube freezing trays for use as substitutes for standard forms of such trays now commonly'employed in the freezing chambers' of refrigerating machines, especially in that class of such machines for small commercial and home uses.

The prior related art evidences many .attempts to provide ice cube freezing trays alone, or combined with ice cube ejector mechanisms, to permit of quick freezing of water containedin the several'ice cube forming compartments of a, freezing tray and, at the same time, allow for convenience and ease in removal of the tray from the freezing chamber of a refrigerating machine, as well as to facilitate th dislodgment of the frozen cubes from the tray compartments.

Among these many attempts, trays of metal, while permitting of quick freezing, failed to allow for desired convenience and ease of removal metal alone, coupled with ice cube ejector devices and mechanisms, but few of these have functioned with that degree of success to make them commerciallyipractical, their inefliciency being due to various causes, particularly to the adhesion of the ice cubes to the tray compartment walls suflicient to prevent ready dislodgement and removal of the same and to the frosting over and sticking of the operative parts.

The present invention has for its primary object the provision of an ice cube freezing tray that surmounts these objectionable features and disadvantages of many of the exemplified structures disclosed in the prior art, with due conof the trays themselves from the freezing chamber nor the frozen cubes from the tray compartments, by reason of the maximum degree of adhesion occurring between the ice forma tion and the metal and, to accomplish this, heat applications were more often than not resorted to. Trays of rubber have had some degree ,of success in this latter, connection, particularly in the elimination of need for heat aperal cub forming compartments by flexing the walls of the tray.' These rubber trays, however, have certain disadvantages, first, if the sideration being given to simplicity in design .and operation, low cost, in manufacture, and

ease in'tray and frozen cube removal.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a comp'artmented tray construction that is preferably made entirely from any suitabl non metallic material that can be molded or pressed to required form, such as, for instance, the synthetic thermoplastic material known as Koroseal, which can be worked to desired form, it having been found to be superior to natural rubber in that it is practically tasteless and odorless, that substantially no adhesion occurs between the-.surfacesof the ice cubes and the opposed walls of the compartments of trays made from it, and that, by reason of a higher conductivity, the time required for freezing the water content of the tray compartment and, consequently, the amount of power for refrigerating machine operation, is reduced to a degree cubes are hard frozen, there is still a discon- 'volume of ice as compared to that when ordinary metal trays are employed. Also, in the use of rubber trays, the ice formation begins initially at the top surface of the-water in the tray compartments, as distinguished from the initial freezing of the water at the sides and bottom of metal trays, the top surface of the water in the first instance freezing substantially fiat and the final freezing occurring at the bottoms of thecompartments with a tendency to bulge downwardly, while, with metal'trays, the bulge occurs at the top surfaces of the formed cubes. from a combination of metal and rubber, or of Again, certain trays have been made from a lighter, weight of the aforesaid material, the main tray being formed to provide relatively tiltable sections which, when individually manipulated from normal to tilted positions, act

to loosen ice cubes within the compartments of corresponding portions of the supplemental distension of the compart-.

certain new and useful combination, construction, and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described,-set forthinthe appended claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of the improved cube freezing tray, .,with certain parts thereof broken away and in section;

Figure 2 is a front end elevation, showing the tiltable tray sections and the actuating mechanism therefor as-they appear when normally disp s d; 4

Figure 3 is a view but showing one of the tray sections in tilted position upon the operation of a respective portion of the actuating mechanism;

Figure 4 is a transverse vertical section taken similar to that of Figure 2,'

tilting movements relatively to the division wall I on the line 4- -4 on Figure l, and showing both I tray sections disposed in tilted positions; and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the supplemental ice cube forming tray per se.

Referring to the. drawing, wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding parts throughout the several views, the embodiment of the invention, as is exemplified therein, is-comprised in a tray unit having the general configu 'ments thereof as required.. Each of the toggles 22 and 23. When seated withinthe main tray III, the space between the inner walls I9 will be occupied bythe longitudinal division wall I4 and the web 2|! and the flanges 2| will rest upon the top edges of the division wall M and the endand outer side walls'li and ll of the main tray. The interiors of the depressed portions l8, are divided by aseries oftransverse partitions 2' which are uniformly spaced apart to provide the aforesaid .rows of compartments as aforesaid The tray sections l2 and I3 are mounted for H, one independently of the other, and, ,to this end, the inner side edges of the bottom walls l5 and the lower edge of the division wall I 4 are interconnected by a hinge 25 that is coextensive therewith. The .hub of the hinge 25 is prefer ably made up of alternately arranged barrel portions 26 which are interengag'ed with one another for mounting upon .a common pintle 21. The tray sections l2 and I3 are also inter-con- -nected at their front ends withthe adjacent end,

'of the division wall I4 by means ofpivoted elements forming toggles, one associated with each of the tray sections for effecting tilting moveis comprised in an upper arm 28 and a lower arm 29-pivotally connected 'in end 'to end relation,'

as at 30, with the opposite end ,of the upper arm such as "Korosea1 or the like, the main tray being fabricated from a suflicient weight and thickness of the material to give it the required rigidity and the supplemental tray from a lighter weight and thinness thereof to provide for the desired elasticity or flexibility.

As shown, the main tray in is formed to provide independently movable half sections it and I3, separated by a vertical division wall ll. Each of the tray sections l2 and I3 is made up of a bottom wall l5, end walls IE, and an outer side wall IT, with its inner side normally open and 1 adapted to be closed whenjshe inner edges of the' bottom and end walls are moved into abutted relation to an adjacent side of the division wall I4; the said tray sectionsand the division wall being preferably elongated to the length of an ordinary ice cube forming tray, so that two full pivoted, in turn, as at 3i, to the near end of' the division wall 14, and thellike end of the lower? arm,'as at 30a, to the edge of the bottom wall ii at apoint thereon removed from the hinge 25. The pivot 3| is common to the engaged ends of both upper arms 28 of the adjacent toggle connections, and it, as well asthe pivots, are provided with cylindrical'enlargements or rollers 32 at'their outer ends for the engagement there.-

with of an operating element 33 that may take I the form of a hand lever, substantially as shown.

This operating element or lever 33 is formed from a length of metal bar or rod having a hand grip 34 at one endqand an angled. extension'35 at its other end, the extension being flattened and formed toprovidecurved seats 3 in its opposite side edges or engagement over the enlargements or rollers 32, after the manner shown in Figures 2 and 3. With theseat '36, at the free end of the extension 35 engaged beneath the enlargementor roller 32, of the fixed pivot 3|, and the seat at its other end engaged over the enlargement or length, longitudinally extending, compartments are provided, one parallel to the other; The

outer side walls II are preferably inclined to a slight degree in an outward direction with respect to the opposed vertical sides of the division wall l4.

The supplemental manner to form rows of depressed portions [8 forming individual ice cube forming compart--. ments to snugly seat within the. elongated compartments of the main tray l0. These depressed portions l8 are separated by a longitudinal partition structure that is formed of spaced 'walls I9 which are connectedonly at their top edges by a web 20 extendingiaterally therebetween and in continuation with narrow flanges 2|,formed at the top edges of the end and outer side walls tray II is molded or pressedfrom a single sheet of the plastic material in a roller 32. on the moving pivot 30, for instance, of the right hand toggle, as in Figure 2, outward and downward pressure of the hand on the hand grip 34 will result in an oblique-inward and downward movement of the moving pivot 30 and cause the arms 28 and 29 to move from normally angled relation towards. more or lessalined relation,-

thus transmitting the pressure thereon to the fixed pivot connection 30a, when the associated tray section l3 will be swung on the hinge 25 to an outwardly tilted position, as in Figure 3. vMovement of the tray section to tilted causes a stretching ofthe transverse partition.

walls 24 of the several pockets l8, of the overlying portion of the, supplemental tray I], which is translatedinto a pulling action that is transmitted through the inner. side wall I 9 and the opposed transverse side walls of the. pockets and efiects a. lift of the bottom walls sufllciently to impart a slight tilt of the frozen. cubes within the pockets; all to the end that the latter are substantially freed from any effects of adhesion or suction that may otherwise tend to -resist easy removal of them from thepockets. After being ition thus loosened within the pockets l8, the'frozen cubes may be readily removedin any 31151.13]. vor desired manner, individually or collectively.

the :tray unit as thus Lconstructed and-arrangedpthe .two tray partsulll and-l l 'canbe readilyseparated one from :thetother for cleaning purposes and, in use, the supplemental tray M is to be easily .emplacedruponsor within the main tray l .and .its-several'pockets .filled with water, or other material to be frozen. In assembly, the unit can be inserted into and removed from the freezing chamber of a refrigerating machine with a facility equal to that of a standard form of tray, but with the advantage that, by reason of its makeup from a non-metallic material, it willnot itself become hard frozen within the freezing chamber, nor the cubes similarlyso within the pockets l8 of the supplemental tray, or, at least, not to any near extent approaching that which is common to the use of metal trays.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the invention provides for a novel freezing tray construction and one that presents decided advantages over standard types thereof and particularly so with reference to ease in tray removal from the freezing chamber of a refrigerating machine and in frozen cube removal from the cube forming pockets. Also, it will be understood that change in material and in minor details of construction and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention or its scope as claimed.

What we claim, is:

1. An ice cube freezing unit for refrigerating machines, comprising a maintray formed to provide relatively movable sections each partitioned to form a series of compartments and a supplemental tray formed of an elastic material supported upon the main tray and having ice cube forming pockets depending within respective compartments of said sections, certain of the walls of said pockets being deformed upon movement of said main tray sections to effect a loosening of the frozen cubes from all of the walls of the pockets for ease in their subsequent removal.

2. An ice cube freezing unit for refrigerating machines, comprising a main tray formed to provide longitudinal, relatively movable, sections each partitioned to form a series of compartments and a supplemental tray formed of an elastic material supported upon the main tray and having ice cube forming pockets depending within respective compartments of said sections, certain of the walls of said pockets being deformed upon movement of said main tray sections to effect a loosening of the frozen cubes from all of the walls of the pockets for ease in their subsequent removal.

3. An ice cube freezing unit for refrigerating machines, comprising a main tray formed to provide oppositely tiltable sections each partitioned to form a series of compartments and a supplemental tray formed of an elastic material supported upon the main tray and havingwce cube forming pockets depending within respective compartments of said sections, certain of the walls of said pockets being deformed by tilting movements of said main tray sections to effect a loosening of the frozen cubes from all of the walls of the pockets for ease in their subsequent removal.

4. An ice cube freezing unit for refrigerating machines, comprising a main tray formed to provide longitudinal, oppositely tiltable sections each partitioned to form a series of compartments and a supplemental at ay'formed 0 an e astic mat rial supported. upon the, main: tray; and havin of the-Walls of the pockets for ease in their subsequent removal. i

5. An ice cube freezing unit for refrigerating machines, comprising a main tray formed to provide longitudinal, oppositely tiltable sections each partitioned to form a series of compartments and a supplemental tray formed of a thermoplastic material supported upon the main tray and having longitudinal rows of ice cube forming pockets depending Within respective compartments of said main tray sections, certain of the walls of each row of said pockets being deformed by the tilting movement of a respective main tray section to effect a loosening of the frozen cubes from all of the Walls of the pockets for ease in their subsequent removal.

6. An ice cube freezing unit for refrigerating machines, comprising a main tray formed to provide a central vertical division wall, compartment sections hingedly connected to the lower edge of said division wall, said compartment sections being open at their inner sides and adapted to have the inner edges of their bottom and end walls abutted against adjacent sides of said division wall when normally disposed, and a supplemental tray formed of a thermoplastic material supported upon the main tray and having rows of ice cube forming pockets depending within the compartments of said main tray sections, certain of the walls of each row of said pockets being deformed by the tilting movement of a respective main tray section to effect a loosening of the frozen cubes from all of the Walls of the pockets for ease in their subsequent removal.

7. The freezing unit as in claim 1,'with a manually actuable means mounted on said main tray for imparting the required movements to said compartment sections.

8. The freezing unit as in claim 3, With a manually actuable means carried by said main tray for imparting the required tilting moVements to said compartment sections.

9. The freezing unit as in claim 4, with a manually actuable means carried at one end of said main tray for imparting the required tilting movements to said compartment sections.

10. The freezing unit as in claim 5, with a manually actuable mean carried at one end of said main tray for imparting the required tilting movements independently to said compartment sections.

11. The freezing unit as in claim 6, with a manually actuable means interconnecting said compartment sections for imparting the required tilting movements to said compartment sections.

12. The freezing unit as in claim 6, with a manually actuable means interconnecting said compartment sections one with the other and with said division wall for imparting the required tilting movements to said compartment sections.

13. The freezing unit as in claim 6, with a manually actuable means carried at one end of said main tray and interconnecting said compartment sections one with the other for imparting the required tilting movements independently to said compartment sections.

,14. The freezing unit as in claim 6, with a toggle connection between each of said compartment sections and said division wall for impartin the required tilting movements independently to the compartment sections.

15. The freezing unit as in claim 6, with a toggle connection between each of said compartment sections and said division wall and means for actuating the toggle connection for imparting the required tilting movements independently to the compartment sections.

16. The freezing unit as in claim 6, with the main tray of a rigid material construction.

17. The freezing unit as in claim 6, with the main tray of a rigid non-metallic construction.

18. The freezing unit as in claim 6, with the main tray of a molded thermoplastic material construction, HERSCHE LUTES. JONATHAN J. BUZZELL. 

